Mistaken Identity (Acts 14:8-20)

Acts 14:8-20

⁸ In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. ⁹ He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed ¹⁰ and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

¹¹ When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ¹² Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: ¹⁵ “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. ¹⁶ In the past, he let all nations go their own way. ¹⁷ Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” ¹⁸ Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹ Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. ²⁰ But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. ^[1]

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What strikes me in today’s passage is the divine mistaken identity.  Paul and Barnabas are mistaken for gods, and the people even begin to treat them as such.  What a  contrast to the persecution that had been experiencing  – and would experience again.

Now, in all my years of ministry, I’ve never been mistaken for a god.

Or have I?

You see, at the root of our sinful nature is the same kind of mistaken identity.  Not regarding divine power to work miracles, but rather divine authority top define morality, ethics, and right and wrong.  This is what Satan successfully tempted Adam and Eve with in the Garden: To be like God, deciding what was good and evil.  When we sin, we are choosing to act in accord with our own self-centered morality and ethics, rather than that of the true God.  We are acting like God, defining what only belongs to Him.

We’re tempted to act godlike as well when we fail to ascribe to God the credit for the blessings that make up our lives.  Yes, He often pours them out as He works through our efforts.  But when we fail to give credit or thanks, we assume God’s creative authority for ourselves.

We ascribe God-like authority to ourselves when we seek to live our lives according to our will, rather than His.  We belong to Him.  He is God and we are not.  But when we define our lives and our activities and our future plans according to our own will, who then is our true god?

So even though I haven’t had an experience like Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, I think I’ve had a lot of experience in being mistaken for a god – by myself.

So pray today is one of repentance.  I also pray that God lead me to rightly ascribe to Him alone all glory and thanks, and to so shape my life according to His will.

 

What is the Word leading you to pray about today?

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^[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Ac 14:8–20). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.